Specials At Bakestone

Specials At Bakestone

Chicken special

You may go to Bakestone Café for their tasty sandwiches. Maybe for one of their appetising salads (small or large). But I go to the Cobh Cross venue for their specials. And since, it is part of the Ballyseedy Garden centre, I often come home with something for the garden.

We called in during a sunny day in mid-week. We were early but the place was already busy. It is a popular spot. For many reasons, but the big draw for me is that specials board. They post three new ones every day. You’ll also see many of them on their Facebook page.

The three up when we called were:

Soy and Honey Chicken on a crunchy Asian salad, with spiced cashews and a sesame dressing (10.50);

Onion bhajis, chickpea and spinach curry, basmati rice and herb yogurt (9.95);

BLT - Irish bacon with crispy cos lettuce, juicy tomato and avocado mayo, served with triple cooked chips (9.25).

Superb curry

I must admit we did have a look at the main board, at the list of salads and so on, and at all the sandwiches, not to mention the pastries, as we queued to pay. You do pay here before you sit down although if you come for brunch at the weekend you will be served at your table (you could well have music on Sundays). So we paid for our specials and also for our Badger and Dodo coffees which were then served after the specials as agreed.

My pick was the chicken. I have to say, very glad to say, that I enjoyed every little bit of it, especially those cashews, one of the best lunch plates I’ve had in awhile. Well priced too. And CL was very much delighted with her curry, the colour and the whole range of flavours. The curry was also obviously the vegetarian option, a well-priced dish. I’m sure the BLT would have been fine too but we were very happy with our choices.

Our server then brought down our coffees and after that we strolled out to the plants and bought a very healthy looking pot of parsley that should keep us supplied for a few months.

Bakestone Café

Ballyseedy Home and Garden Centre,

Fota Retail Park

Carrigtwohill

Co. Cork

(021) 438 9001

info@bakestone.ie

Twitter: @_Bakestone

Web: http://bakestone.ie

Bakestone Cafe. Ali Honour and All Those Cakes

Bakestone Cafe

Ali Honour and the 403 Cakes

Almond and Orange Tart.

The $64,000 dollar question. How many cakes does Ali Honour bake in a year? I don't know. And I don't know where you'll get the dollars either! The question came to mind on Wednesday when I spoke to Ali after a very tasty meal in her Bakestone Cafe at Ballyseedy at Cobh Cross. Not sure Ali knows either but she does know, and fully appreciates, that Cork people have an insatiable appetite for her gorgeous creations.

First things first. I started with a big bowl of Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup. It was a terrific soup and good value at €4.50.  A slice of Bakestone’s superb seeded Brown Bread came with it and I bought a loaf of that on the way out. By the way, Bakestone have lots of Gluten Free products. Check the huge blackboard for details.

Chicken and rich tomato sauce.

 Value too at main course level. There were three specials on the board. CL picked the Chicken on a Rich Tomato Sauce, topped with Parmesan, served with toasted sourdough and dressed leaves (€10.50). A really excellent plateful, a little bit different but full of flavours and colours and a variety of textures. And much the same could be said about my Beef Quesadillas with Guacamole, sour cream, and refried beans (€10.75). Great stuff.

Various tarts and quiches are always available and the third special on Wednesday was the Salad of Roast Thyme Squash Goats Cheese, sun dried tomato, toasted hazelnuts with sourdough croutons and pesto dressing (€9.90).

Having finished the mains, there was just enough room left for the sweet stuff and a cup of that excellent Badger & Dodo Coffee. My choice was the Mixed Berry Tart while CL took the Almond and Orange Tart. Needless to say, the selection on the counter was mega!

Maybe not 40 but not too far off it! The two we had were gorgeous - I almost stole the Almond and Orange - and so it was two happy customers, two quite full costumers, that left the cafe.

Beef Quesadillas with Guacamole

Great too to have a quick chat with the busy Ali who is rightly proud of her recent venture into sourdough, quit a success by the taste of it in our dishes. There is quite a excellent crew on duty here, all helpful and very efficient as well. Very Highly Recommended. And not just for the buns and cakes!

By the way, 403=64,000. I didn’t know that!!

Afternoon of food, fun and Hope

Afternoon of food, fun and Hope.

We enjoyed ourselves at Ballyseedy (Cobh Cross) yesterday as part one of the Hope Foundation's Eat4StreetKids ended on an enjoyable note. Amateur cooks of all ages brought their sugar and spice dishes - mainly sugar! - to the Bakestone Cafe where judges Lilly Higgins, Joe McNamee, Ali Honour, Gautham Iyers and Christine Girault had the tough (?) task of picking a winner.

While they were deciding, we were royally entertained by a lady originally from the southside of Chicago, Karen Underwood. Karen was delighted to help out and indeed put in a tremendous session.

Then came the judges’ decisions and there were quite a few prizes awarded. But really, all entrants were winners on the day, all willing to put in the effort, just like Karen Underwood and the judges themselves, to help out the underprivileged kids of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).

We all got a chance to sample the food and must admit that my favourite was the Donkey’s Wedding Cake! Quite an afternoon and indeed, I was a winner myself, picking up a hamper of the famous Clonakilty Black Pudding in the raffle.  I think the only thing I missed out on was the bouncy castle!

The fund-raising for the Kolkata kids goes on and the focus this month switches to participating local restaurants and their customers. There are a number of options for both. One suggests either the customer or the restaurant adding fifty cent for Hope to the bill and another suggests the customer posts a picture of a dish to Twitter or Facebook and the restaurant pays the fifty cent.

Check it all out here or contact organiser Maggie Hogan at maggie@hopefoundation.ie or 021 4292990

Finger Licking Lunch at Bakestone Café

Bakestone Café and Deli
Finger Licking Lunch

Bakestone is the bright and busy Café and Deli in the Ballyseedy Home and Garden Centre at Cobh Cross. Made a visit there this week and enjoyed a lovely lunch. They also serve breakfast.

Not the biggest of menus. Three specials featured on the board and you could also choose from various quiches and other tarts. I was there at 12.30pm and picked the Meatballs Focaccia. Minutes later, it was crossed off the board.

No wonder it is popular. The full description is Toasted Focaccia bread with pork and herb meatballs, roast onion and cheese, with a chorizo and pepper tomato sauce served with mixed leaves, all for €9.95.

Loved every little bit of it. The meatballs were excellent and the sauce was a flavoursome treat and the fresh salad was much more than a few leaves tossed together. The bread was a pleasant surprise. I'm often wary where I see bread given main billing as some places use it as a filling. But not here. It was well made and, toasted, it was a tasty integral part of the dish. Recommended. Recommend you get there early also!

Ali Honour is the chef here and her declared passion is “creating tempting dishes half healthy and half naughty”. So now it was time to be bold. Gave into the temptation of her Cherry Tiffin slice (2.50) and also ordered a flat white (2.80). Both were splendid even if the cake was almost melting on the table. It was just about ten degrees outside but it must have close to thirty inside the glass, the unhindered sun making it uncomfortable. Not a bad complaint for this time of year!

I had made a late afternoon visit here a few weeks back but was disappointed to be told that the kitchens close at 3.00pm. But is was a good time to try some of those half naughty bits! Coffee, by the way, comes via the excellent, and local, Badger and Dodo.

The cafe is part of a big shop area where Meadows and Byrne (home), Farrell and Browne (knitwear), and Ballyseedy themselves (home, artisan food store and garden centre) do business.

Bakestone

Ballyseedy Home & Garden Centre, Fota Retail Park, Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork

Phone	(021) 438 9001
Website	http://www.bakestone.ie

Mon - Sat: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sun: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm